WHO has issued new guidance to improve treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) which recommends shifting to fully oral regimens to treat people with MDR-TB. This new treatment course is more effective and is less likely to provoke adverse side-effects.
The recommendations are part of a larger package of actions designed to help countries increase the pace of progress to end TB.
‘The theme of this year’s World TB Day (which fell on 24 March) is: It’s time to end TB,’ said
TB is the world’s top infectious disease killer, claiming 4,500 lives each day. Since 2000, 54 million lives have been saved, and TB deaths fell by one-third. But ten million people still fall ill with TB each year, with too many missing out on vital care.
The new guidance, ‘WHO consolidated guidelines on drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment’, can be downloaded
- Third World Network